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Caracal - The essence of beauty
Caracals have sleek,
streamlined bodies, reddish gold coats, dramatic markings
 on the face, and are
among the most beautiful of cats. The large, tapering ears with erect
tufts of black hair, are a very striking feature of this
cat. Their name comes from the Turkish word ‘karakulak’ and means
"black ear".
Sometimes
called a desert lynx,
caracals have longer tails, a more slender body, lack the ruff
(beard) on the face and have longer legs than true lynx. Melanistic caracals
exist but have been rarely seen. They are actually more dark brown than
black.
They have
great tree climbing and jumping abilities and are great atheletes for
being one of the heaviest of smaller felines. The
Caracal is a cunning, agile
cat that makes it a very good hunter.
They get most of their water from their prey and can go long periods
without drinking. This attribute allows them to survive for long periods
of time in the dry, desert without water
sources.
Due to its unique
camouflage, they were able to catch many different prey including hares, jerboas, sand rats, birds, hyraxes,
deer, gazelles and kudus. Mostly a nocturnal hunter, but will also use
the twilight hours to search out its prey. This Cat is able, from a
sitting position, to launch 9 to 12 feet in the air by using its strong
hind quarters and limbs. This power comes in handy when birds are
flushed out and take to the air. At one time,
they were
tamed and trained for bird hunting in India and Iran. They were also put
in arena containing pigeons, and wagers were made to see how
many they would take down at one time.
Ten
to a dozen birds at one time can be taken this way.
They
are rare or threatened in Asia and North Africa, but ple ntiful in South
Africa.
At
present, they are common and have a healthy, stable population. In fact,
they are so common in some areas of their range that they are running
into problems with farmers and are hunted as poultry raiders. Ranchers
will put out poisoned meat (usually carcasses) in hopes of
killing other predators. Unfortunately the caracal is exposed to this
meat. In some areas of their range they are killed
for their skin and meat by bush people. Tho their fur has little
commercial value. The actual number in the wild is unknown. Habitat loss
due to human encroachment is a large threat as their prey species are
driven to other areas. The Indian
subspecies is thought to be very endangered. While the Asian species are
protected in approximately half of their range territory, the African
population is not protected in most of theirs.
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